


Unmask Your Heart

by fairydustedtheory



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Awkward Flirting, Bad Flirting, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Identity Porn, Identity Reveal, Kissing, M/M, POV Derek Hale, Pining, Scents & Smells, Secret Crush, Secret Identity Fail, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:14:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28454433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairydustedtheory/pseuds/fairydustedtheory
Summary: Derek was at the awful masquerade ball against his will, all of it is against his will up until a Red Hoodie comes along. What is Derek to do when the young man in front of him is braver with a mask? It's Valentine's day, maybe Cupid is on their side.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 16
Kudos: 213





	Unmask Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mrkgrl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrkgrl/gifts).



> Written for the wonderful mrkgrl who gave me the prompt : masquerade ball with little red and wolf. pining and fluff with a hand kiss scene.
> 
> Thank you again, I truly truly hope you'll like it!
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](https://fairydustedtheory.tumblr.com/tagged/plot%20twist%20:%20i%20write)

“Come on, Derek! Are you dead set on having a terrible time tonight?” 

_“Yes.”_

Cora rolled her eyes before grabbing him by the shoulders again. “You never know what can happen! Keep an eye out for Cinderella!”

Derek simply nodded. That was the only thing he could do if he hoped to get out of this conversation without one of his sister’s famous pep talks. Please anything but a pep talk!

He closed his eyes and pulled his lips in to keep from smiling when she ruffled his hair. She had to keep believing he hated that.

“Good boy, such a good boy!” She laughed. Dog jokes weren’t getting old apparently.

Keep an eye out for Cinderella. It was easier said than done. Derek glanced around the crowd.

He was single and not exactly ready to mingle. Not in that specific crowd a least.

There was no shortage in Cinderella wannabes in the decorated underground parking lot just on the outskirts of campus. They were all there, from the fairy tale copycats to the slutty versions of the copycats.

He sighed, pained and long suffering. There was no way that he was going to be caught dead with any of these Cinderellas. No matter what Cora hoped to accomplish by dragging him here tonight of all nights.

That was, in true rom-com manner, until the room stopped spinning, stopped dancing, holding their collective breath as _the_ Cinderella of the night walked in.

“Okay I know this isn’t your scene,” Cora continued. The pep talk was actually happening then. “you hate the idea of getting dressed up in some fancy suit, and put on a silly mask on your face. Valentine’s is only about capitalism and not about true love and bla-bla-bla. You’ve said that and guess what, I don’t really care!” She shrugged, oblivious to the whole fairy tale scene happening a little over to the side.

Listening to his sister with one ear, Derek followed everybody’s gaze all the way to a beautiful girl, red lips, strawberry blonde hair and green dress with an assorted green mask covering her eyes.

A show-stopper really. 

Except… well, except for Derek whose gaze continued past her and to the hooded silhouette stumbling and falling right behind her before ungracefully standing back up and hitting their head on some heart shaped balloons.

The hooded silhouette was… red. A blob of red catching the colored spotlights and making everything even more _red._

When they turned around, all Derek could see was a red hoodie with a simple red mask. The whole outfit complemented with simple dark jeans didn’t seem like much at first glance. Definitely not fairy tale-like. The most casual look of the whole assembly without the shadow of a doubt. 

What had happened to the whole ‘formal wear only’ that Cora had been going on about for weeks now?

The event required formal wear because it truly was awful that way. Valentine’s day meant nothing more than Gucci and Hugo Boss galore and Derek wanted to puke.

He had managed to escape that by wearing his nicest button down shirt, which had been selected by Cora of course as she seemed to have appointed herself the fairy godmother of the evening.

As for his mask… Derek grimaced as he reached to adjust it over his face, Cora had picked a wolf design, a half mask with ears, made of leather with brushes of gold painted on the sides. She had found it on Etsy she had said, and spent a little fortune on it specifically for him to wear tonight. Hers was slightly more delicate, probably from the same seller, though Derek hadn’t asked and didn’t particularly care to know for sure. It suited her just fine, he had to admit, though he regretted the wolf design on both of them. Where was the anonymity in all of this?

He would be recognized right away. At least part of his identity would be. Most people wouldn’t know his name (Derek was far from being the most popular guy on campus), but they would know he was one of the wolves without giving it a single thought. 

It was fine. It wasn’t like Derek intended to play along anyway.

The real Cinderella Derek recognized pretty quickly as being Lydia Martin, a sophomore, one of the girls in Cora’s group of friends. He watched as she quickly made her way into the crowd, leaving the red hoodie behind without a second glance. They hadn’t come together, huh.

“Stop looking so tense. It’s part of the fun...” Cora's voice was laced with some sort of tired affection. “You have to stay until midnight, okay? For me? See what it’s like to be young and beautiful!”

Derek sighed. Why had he let her drag him into this? He was the oldest, he should have been able to say no, tell her to back off and let him be. Something in the order of things hadn’t turned out right that he physically couldn’t say no to her.

That was the only reason why he was standing there, attacked by the ugly red lights stabbing at his eyes and the ugly red heart shaped balloons hovering over his head. There was no way in hell that he was going to have fun. Impaling himself with a wolfs bane laced dagger would be less excruciating.

The Valentine’s ball was a staple at Beacon University. All the students were invited to the highly anticipated unofficial and unchaperoned masquerade party. Meaning things could get as wild as any other frat party but in a bigger setting and all with the idea of capital L Love acting as alcohol poured on a fire, making things bigger and brighter. More dangerous.

Derek hated everything about it. He had hated it from his freshman year all the way until now and he knew he would still hate it tomorrow and might very well still hate it when he’ll turn seventy, living as an old retired guy on a ranch with some chickens. That was Cora’s very detailed mental image of how Derek would turn out if he didn’t try to be a little less grumpy and sad. Her words, not his.

The loud music was deafening, another point that showed that nothing was actually planned according to werewolves' need or comfort. Music was blaring out, the bass vibrating through the walls, making the hair on the back of Derek’s neck stand up uncomfortably.

He glanced back at the red hoodie again. That guy might be the only person more out of place than he felt. Derek tried to focus, tried to find out if he knew him from across the room. With the amount of people, alcohol mixed with an underlying stench of old gasoline, Derek couldn’t really make it out from that far. 

It didn’t matter, he would find out soon enough.

At midnight as in a real life fairy tale, everybody would be allowed to take off their masks and reveal their true selves. It was only for show, suits and masks wouldn’t be enough to conceal anyone’s identities for that long. Not with werewolves in the attendance.

“Are we even allowed to be here?” Derek tried as a last resort. It wasn’t too late to turn back around.

Their school had some old bigot policies still in place. BU wasn’t exactly the most woke in terms of social, racial and species justice. It only had the advantage of being close to home. 

“Nice try. But you know very well that Valentine’s is werewolf inclusive.” Cora wasn’t letting him off the hook.

The red hoodie bumped into some random Princess impersonator, almost tripping on her gown, which earned him some death glares from the surrounding attendance. Derek couldn’t take his eyes off him. This guy was a mess. Was he even aware this was a serious event? 

Derek could repeat everything about how serious an event this was, he heard it so many times he knew the whole speech by heart.

Valentine’s ball was the most pretentious event of the year. The whole thing was terrible, nobody could escape it. Flyers everywhere for a month, murmurs and rumors of the one and only Valentine's ball were the one thing on people’s mind from the start of January all the way to mid-February and to Derek’s despair, most people kept talking about it until late March at least.

“Come on, tonight is your night. And don’t make that face!” Cora rolled her eyes again. It was a family trait that she liked to overuse.

What face. That was just his face. Derek didn’t have it in him to make another one. He definitely didn’t have it in him to pretend he was having fun.

“Don’t think I don’t see it because you’re wearing a mask. I see everything, that’s what little sisters do!” She punched him in the shoulder harder than strictly necessary. 

Derek couldn’t help but glance at the red hoodie again. The guy was now trying to awkwardly make his way onto the dance floor. He seemed to be either invisible to people or earn a few disgruntled looks. Nothing really surprising for an old red hoodie in an assembly of expensive suits. 

Red hoodie started dancing then. Alone and entranced. Were these actual dance moves or was he having some sort of a stroke?

“You’re almost out of college and you’ve never attended the ball and you can bet your ass I’m not letting this pass.” Cora grimaced, acting disappointed in him. “Not under my supervision. Nuh-uh.”

Derek scoffed. “You’re ridiculous.” 

“You’re a catch, big brother. You’re nice and smart and, let’s face it, you are incredibly hot. It’s not my personal opinion but it’s the general consensus because we have the same genes!” She grinned, clearly proud of herself.

Derek huffed out a short chuckle, looking away. Her pep talk was still going strong.

“You’re a catch,”Cora told him softly. “You just gotta let someone catch you.” 

“And that someone is here? At a creepy Valentine’s dance?” Derek’s mask was covering most of his disgusted expression, which was a shame, it had to be pretty epic considering the subject of their talk.

“Oh the face is back.” Cora still caught the gist of it. “What’s wrong with a college dance? It’s overly sparkly and overly boozy, people are most definitely having sex in every corner of the room and maybe even in the middle of the dance floor. You don’t have to partake in any of the illicit activities if you don’t want to. Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do and you’re good to go!”

“I’m good to go?” Derek deadpanned.

Cora let out a loud and annoyed breath. “Well, don’t have fun then. Don’t have fun and don’t make friends and keep going like you’ve gone for the past four years. You’re graduating in a few months anyway, right?”

“Not everyone is meant to find the perfect boyfriend and make up a college pack.” It came out sounding somewhat resentful. Though Derek wasn’t jealous. 

He wasn’t _jealous_. He refused to be jealous. Derek had to concede he was a little of something, but the sentiment wasn’t exactly jealousy. She had a way of making people around her love her. It was a gift. Derek hadn’t been gifted that way.

His pack were the only people around whom he felt comfortable. And outside of a short lived and terribly toxic couple of dates with a psycho, Derek had just preferred staying single. 

“Hey now,” she grabbed his arm, gently. “I’m not saying find the one you want to marry and have a litter of pups by the end of the year. I’m only saying you should live a little. Take this as your opportunity. You’re Prince Charming and you may find your fairytale tonight.” 

“Look at you being romantic now. Is that Isaac’s influence? I don’t know if I should thank him or kill him for that.”

She laughed. “Oh no, Isaac is a sweetheart mixed with an asshole. He’s perfect for me but romantic? I don’t know if he really qualifies.” She tilted her head, pondering. “But I have other friends you know...”

“Speaking of your friends, aren’t you supposed to meet up with them and leave me here to agonize in peace?”

Derek looked around, trying to find Isaac to finally be free of his overly enthusiastic little sister. A tall curly guy shouldn’t be too hard to find in the crowd. 

Glancing to the side, there was a couple already well on their way to having the best night of their lives at only 8 pm on a Saturday night, tongue deep in each other’s throats barely hidden behind some sparkly balloons by the side of the entrance. 

There was a disgusting stench of arousal and alcohol. Sadly it wasn’t just coming from that couple. It was everywhere as any college party would require.

Valentine’s day was the worst. 

Derek scanned the room again until his eyes caught someone looking back at him.

“I see him. See ya later, loser!” Cora exclaimed as she gave him a little shove on the back to push him in the opposite direction of the exit while she ran off somewhere.

She was gone in an instant, he didn’t even have time to see where.

“Cora!!” he growled after her, but there was no use.

*-*-*

Derek turned around quickly, trying to find his way around this stupid overly decorated parking lot. His gut twisted with the uneasy feeling of being watched.

He quickly realized it was no other than Red hoodie who was staring at him. Derek’s heart stuttered when he saw him standing in a corner as he would if he was hoping in vain to be asked to dance. Derek wasn’t going to be the one to do that so why was he staring?

There was just something strange about that guy.

Derek turned around, exasperated with everything and more than a little confused. He shook his head, this was going to be a long night until midnight.

He could still feel eyes on him, felt like he was being watched with an intensity able to burn through skin. His hyper senses were going haywire.

Derek made his way to the table to get himself a drink. He settled for a beer, regretting the fact that he wouldn’t be able to get drunk. That would have made this party somehow more bearable if he had.

Derek just stood there, leaning against the tabletop, ready to waste the night away. All he could do was look at the costumes and try to not dive too much into the specifics of this particular valentine’s atmosphere. It was definitely reeking of sex, maybe a little of puke somewhere, the worst stereotype of a party anyone could imagine and the night had barely started. 

He could see Red hoodie walking around the edge of the party for a while, staying safely outside the blur of moving bodies, before finally disappearing in the crowd. Derek had lost him. Maybe someone had asked him to dance in the end.

There were still _hours_ to go until the clock struck midnight. Cora would say this was an unmissable party, she was probably having the time of her life somewhere in there.

Derek was just happy he had been able to avoid it until now. 

He’d have graduated by Valentine’s next year. Sadly, his impending graduation didn’t mean anything in terms of him changing scenery at all. He wouldn’t exactly be safe next year as he had chosen to enroll into Beacon Graduate School, about two blocks away from campus. He’ll still be at Cora’s mercy for as long as she attended BU.

He’d rather not think about it. His only comfort right now was that this had to be his first and only time attending this hell hole. He truly hoped it was his only time. He’d have to find a good excuse to escape it next year, pretend to not be desperately single or something.

It wasn't long before he heard footsteps coming to a halt next to him. Derek almost told Cora to get lost before he heard a voice say, “Not brave enough to try out the homemade punch I see.” 

That was definitely not Cora’s voice. What the hell was wrong with Derek tonight? Even through the crowd, the perfumes, even the gasoline, he should have been able to tell a stranger right away, from the sound of their heartbeat alone. 

Derek huffed without turning around. “I’ll pass on the punch. I can tell you it’s spiked with cheap alcohol. But have at it. Be my guest.”

That was the most words he had planned to say all night. His quota was met and he would be able to tell Cora that he had socialized with someone. ‘Made a friend’ as she liked to call it as if they were still in kindergarten and making friends was as easy as sitting on a bench next to someone and not getting punched in the face. 

He wondered again why the hell he had let his sister dictate his life. This night needed a miracle to be turned around and he just didn’t see it coming.

“Wouldn’t be a real party if it wasn’t.” An arm passed around Derek, reaching for a bottle, almost bumping into him as it did so. “I’ll settle for a beer too. We’ll see how the night goes for anything stronger than that.”

Derek looked up to the person to say something but his mind blanked out when he was faced with a red hood, red mask and a bright smile.

The face was so covered that Derek couldn’t recognize who it was even from this close. Maybe he simply didn’t know him. Derek didn’t know a lot of people on a personal level.

Cora was right to call him antisocial. Derek was more at ease alone doing his reading assignments in his single dorm room. 

He had been blessed with a single room because of the school’s werewolf policies. The policies were shitty at best but the room and the tranquility coming with it had been more than welcome. 

“Hey, who are you supposed to be? Big Bad Wolf, I suppose?” Red Hood asked, eyes flicking up to Derek's face and then back down. Was he looking at Derek’s mouth? “It’s funny how everybody went for some very unironic costumes this year. Slutty princesses, slutty princes… It’s amazing, it’s like people aren’t even wearing costumes in the end.” 

“And what is your costume supposed to be?” Derek asked, blinking a few times at the bright red and white spotlights moving around, drowning the room in an eerie pink glow.

“Why, I’m Little Red of course.” Red Hood extended his hand. “Nice to meet you here tonight, Mister Wolf.” 

Derek narrowed his eyes at the open hand. He just couldn’t read him. The hood, the mask, the unnatural lights of the room, all that mixed with the amount of different people, different scents in the room, made it all so confusing. All Derek had to go on was the angle of a soft jawline and long fingers. That wasn’t a lot to base his appreciation of someone.

“Come on, dude.” Little Red wiggled his fingers. “Don’t leave me here hanging.” 

This stranger looked innocent enough so Derek obliged. The sense of comfort he felt when their hands touched might have to do with the costume, a Little Red Riding Hood in the crowd of slutty princes that was like a breath of fresh air. Finally someone who seemed to loathe a special dress occasion as much as Derek did.

“Would you -” Little Red pointed the thumb of his free hand over his shoulder and in the direction of the dance floor.

“No.” Derek cut him automatically.

Little Red chuckled, the sound light and hypnotizing. “Totally saw that one coming.”

He was clinging to Derek’s hand for some reason. His hand was dry and warm, the hold of his fingers just a hint too tight clearly showing his nerves. His heartbeat jumped in time with the loud bass resonating on the concrete walls of the parking lot. He smelled… Derek couldn’t really tell. It was infuriating. Little Red smelled good? He smelled okay, that Derek could admit. Underneath the nauseating stench of a crowd of nobodies, college boys drenched in Axe body spray and cheap booze. Little Red smelled… surprisingly okay. 

Familiar in a way Derek couldn’t pinpoint. Something known but unrecognized, the smell thick in his nose, hidden in the dark unrevealed corner of his brain, only there to give him this visceral full-body instinct of something he couldn’t help but associate with safety.

Little Red looked oddly nervous around him, shuffling his feet, fingers twitching around Derek’s hand.

Derek sharply took his hand away.

Little Red immediately went to fiddle with the hem of his shirt. “Uhmmm…”

“Do you have somewhere else to be?” Derek asked. He frowning when he realized the formulation wasn’t exactly what he had meant to say. 

A hint of a smile touched Little Red’s lips.

“Nope.” He popped the p, his smile only growing bigger. “I’m all yours, big guy. I mean,” he shook his head, revising himself. “not _yours_ yours, but you know, I can absolutely stay here with you, like, to rescue you when all the slutty and also non-slutty princesses start to fight for your beautiful eyes. It’s bound to happen, because, well, because your eyes are insanely beautiful and...”

Derek dropped his gaze in a bashful sort of way, and focused on peeling the label off his bottle of beer for a second. 

When he looked up, Derek glanced around quickly, trying to find Cora in the crowd. He needed to make sure she wasn’t somewhere making fun of him. This could very well be one of her jokes. She was an awful little sister, always trying to make his life miserable while also pretending to make him happy. It was all partially true. The misery and the happiness alike. 

He found her all the way across the parking lot, laughing in Isaac’s arms, definitely not paying attention to him or to the guy still standing in his personal space. 

Little Red was still standing there, nodding at himself as if he was agreeing to something. Derek had no idea what was going on in head but it seemed like a lot. 

“I came here hoping to get a dance with someone. I have all night to get that one dance, I don’t know if I’ll succeed but I won’t stop trying. The thing is he’s a little out of my league.” Little Red told him, looking hopeful and open.

“Okay?” Derek was not really sure where all of this was going.

The look on this guy’s face alone was enough to make Derek’s stomach go all twisty inside, but he swallowed it down, forcing himself to not feel these things. He didn’t come here for that. 

Little Red shrugged, crossing and uncrossing his arms over his chest like he didn’t know what to do with them. “Yeah, you know the type? Grumpy and poor conversationalist. But also, caring and protective over the people he loves. Let’s not forget sarcastic, maybe not enough to be more sarcastic than me but close, like life with him would be a nice challenge, you know? And yeah, hot. He’s very ery hot. An overall great guy.”

Derek narrowed his eyes. “Are you asking for my help?”

Little Red let out a loud burst of laughter. It echoed over the music and over the hubbub of voices speaking louder and louder with each passing minute.

“Yeah!” He grinned. “Yeah, I’m asking for your expertise. How would you go about flirting with such a guy?”

Derek gave him a once-over.

“Oh, I should have dressed the part?” There was a bright twinkle in Little Red’s eyes that Derek was sure wasn’t caused by the creepy spotlights. “I mean, even in a masquerade ball, I still gotta stay myself, right?

Derek kept looking at him. There was nothing he could particularly say. He wasn’t great at genuine flirting, he only ever flirted to get himself out of stupid situations his sister always forced him into. Watching Little Red tonight, he could only wonder why this guy needed any advice. The smile on his face was more than a little endearing. It felt warm and approachable. Just right. What could he even say to a ridiculously charming stranger?

“You look fine.” Derek managed to say. 

Little Red didn’t even try to hide how big his smile was this time. “Glad to hear it! Uh, I don’t know, it’s Valentine’s day, and I’m here alone,” he started fidgeting again. “And I was thinking that, uh, if you’re not into dancing… would you like to get out of here?” 

Derek frowned. “I can’t leave. My sister would rip my throat out. She’s small but -” 

It took him a minute to understand what Little Red was actually saying. Derek could be a bit dense sometimes, especially when it came to flirting. But who flirts with someone pretending they need to impress with someone else, that just didn’t make sense. Derek wasn’t exactly a social butterfly but he usually was able to recognize bad flirting when he saw it. He had been the victim of it more times than he’d like to admit. He hated it. 

Little Red was riding on a brand new wave of terrible flirting and nothing could apparently stop him.

“Right, your sister.” Little Red bit his lip, glancing away, as if he was still battling something inside his brain and wasn’t exactly sure on who was winning. 

Derek stood there in silence a couple minutes, wondering what was the appropriate amount of time for small talk and awkward silences and awkward flirting. He would very much like to flee the scene of the crime right about now.

It truly was a crime, being dragged to this Valentine's day party to have ‘fun’ and being flirted with by what seemed to be a cute guy. Derek could only base his appreciation of Little Red on instincts and somehow even with the words coming out of his mouth, Little Red didn’t raise any red flags. Derek’s eyes swept approvingly over Little Red’s slender form once again, even with just jeans and a hoodie, he still was the most attractive guy in the whole room.

“I’m sure you’d tell me no, if you really meant no.” Little Red told him, lips twitching a bit in amusement. He was getting braver and reading Derek a little too easily.

“I guess I would,” Derek said. 

He stopped, eyes going wide as the words spoken caught up with him. What was he even saying? He definitely was going to blame Cora’s pep talks, she had managed to insinuate some crazy romantic ideas in his head. 

Little Red smiled again, bright, cheerful and strangely familiar in the way it seemed to tug at Derek’s heart. 

Derek did know this smile. That explained everything, the heartbeat, the scent, the familiar comfort and feeling of safety he felt around what in all aspects tonight was a stranger. He still couldn’t exactly identify it.

Was he someone from one of his classes, or some guy he had met at the library when he went to study? He looked young though, going from the very light facial hair, Little Red was still somewhat baby faced.

“Yeah, you would.” Little Red repeated wistfully, low and intimate, mostly for himself in the loud room but Derek still caught it. “I have to admit,” he said louder. “Part of me sort of wished you wouldn’t show up tonight, or that I’d be too late and you’d already be dancing with someone or disappearing with some random person to do God knows what, and that would just be it for me, no chance to make a fool out of myself. And you know, maybe, maybe it would have helped me get past that stupid all consuming crush I have. But you, you’re here and you look like you could have just walked off the page of GQ or something. You’re here and so am I, and I made a promise to myself that I would try. Cupid has to be on my side. I guess I feel braver behind a mask.”

Derek stayed silent as Little Red quickly downed the rest of his beer. He brushed past Derek to go help himself to a red cup full of punch. It was that time of the night, Derek supposed, not really certain if that meant the night was going according to Little Red’s plans or if it meant he needed some more liquid courage. Either way, Derek was not moving for some unclear reason. 

He felt he needed to see this through. Discover who was hiding behind that hoodie and mask.

Little Red took a big mouthful of punch, and winced visibly as he swallowed it down. It seemed to taste as bad as he smelled.

“Have you ever had sex with someone without knowing who it was?” Little Red asked out of the blue.

His heartbeat which had been steadily pulsing with the music jumped, now doing double time. 

The smirk on his face was absolutely infuriating as he brought the red cup to his lips. Derek swallowed hard, the awkward flirt had escalated very fast.

“... No.” Derek had to admit it. 

No, he hadn’t. No way he would. Absolutely no way. Nothing good could come of forcing it either. One night stands weren’t something Derek felt comfortable with at all. He had trust issues. Not only because of how awful his past romantic experiences had been. It was more than that. Derek needed safety and comfort and trust. He wouldn’t be able to feel that with just anyone. 

Derek felt his throat tighten.

Little Red chuckled, as if mocking Derek’s shocked expression or himself or the situation or everything all at once. “And if I’m not being exactly clear when I say _someone_ , I mean,” he gestured widely around himself. “This someone… I have this fantasy…” Little Red bit his lower lip. “Two strangers in the backroom of a club or something, no name, no face.”

Derek closed his eyes. What was he even doing here? This was just a bad bad _bad_ idea. Cora had gotten to his head about letting loose, about letting himself have some fun, breaking down his walls and finally letting someone in. This was so fucking stupid.

“You know who I am.” Derek corrected.

That much was obvious, Little Red knew exactly who Derek was. He had made that perfectly clear.

There weren’t a lot of werewolves enrolled in this school. It was customary for the faculty to introduce them to each new class, as a ‘safety measure’ because society sucked that way. 

Even if they didn’t know each other personally, there was no way Little Red was oblivious here. Derek wasn’t that well hidden under his leather mask, and even if he had been, the wolf design Cora had chosen was definitely giving him away.

In the handful of male wolves enrolled, Derek was probably the only one who was single at the moment. Isaac and Cora had started dating last year. There was also Scott, Isaac’s best friend, but the guy was a serial lover. He had never actually been single for a whole day ever since high school if the rumors were true. The small gang was definitely somewhere in the room having fun, being young and in love under the red glitter confetti. There were maybe a couple of werewolf freshmen that Derek hadn’t bothered remembering but they were irrelevant and looked like puppies. 

The point was that if Little Red was actually a student here, (and that much Derek could guess was true because of the faint scent of familiarity he found underneath the costume), he knew exactly who Derek was. No way Little Red had him confused with anyone else.

“Yeah…” Little Red breathed out, still worrying his lip between his teeth. Derek should stop staring. “I do. But you don’t. That changes things.”

Derek was very aware of what that guy was trying to do. It was not subtle. At all. Little Red’s gaze behind his red mask was hypnotic and focused on Derek as if he was trying to undress him with his eyes.

“No way.” Derek forced himself to say out loud. To make it more real somehow. He needed to stop all of this nonsense before it got too far, before his brain got more foggy than it ever should be.

“Too bad.” Little Red shrugged. “Can’t blame a guy for trying. Tonight was my shot, my one and only shot. It’s fine. I’ll never bother you again. I’ll act as if nothing ever happened. See,” Little Red leaned in closer, “there was a reason I was braver behind a mask.”

“I’m not playing into your creepy werewolf fantasies.” Derek choked out. He didn’t even have it in him to try to find a better way to tell this guy to fuck off.

Little Red flinched with whole body, as if he had been physically punched in the gut.

Derek shook his head and turned to leave. He couldn’t believe he had wasted all this time with this guy. He could just go back to his room and take off this goddamn mask and button down shirt and tell Cora it was the last time he ever told her ‘fine’ when all his instincts had been telling him that it wasn’t in fact ‘fine’. Nothing was fine.

“Hey hey.” Little Red caught his hand and Derek let him. “Please, no. Don’t think that. You can reject me all you want, but please, please don’t think that.” 

Derek sighed but turned around to look at Little Red again. 

Little Red gave him a timid smile. “It’s not about that… _God_ ,” he said. “I’m coming on way too strong. I know. I’m bad at this, clearly. I’m awful. But, it’s just... you’ve never noticed me before, why would you notice me now?”

Derek frowned, jaw clenched tight. Strangely the only thing in his mind was that this didn’t feel right. He didn’t want Little Red to feel this way. It wasn’t that Derek hadn’t noticed him in particular, he hadn’t noticed anyone. Too closed off to see anyone. Being hurt once, twice was bad enough, Derek had felt it better and safer to focus on his studies, focus on his family, making sure his sister was safe too. It had nothing to do with Little Red not being good enough. How could Derek even judge who was good or not for him at this point?

Little Red shrugged, self-deprecating. “I just thought, what the hell, I have nothing to lose.” 

The timid look on Little Red’s face felt like seeing something intimate and private, something he didn’t let most people see. Something unpleasant twisted in Derek’s gut. 

“I swear,” he continued. “I swear this isn’t what you think it is. I have no ulterior motives. I’m just stupid. These weren’t werewolf fantasies, these were _you_ fantasies. Everything came out wrong. I’m sorry. Derek.” 

Little Red’s fingers squeezed his hand. Derek hadn’t realized they were still touching, only now Little Red’s thumb was making slow comforting circles over his knuckles. Comforting. Soothing.

There had been no uptick of his heart, no underlying scent of deceit. Nothing but that same familiar and safe feeling that Derek still couldn’t exactly pinpoint but couldn’t get enough of.

“Okay...” He breathed out. “I believe you.”

The smile on Little Red’s face was more blinding than every hung spotlight in the room. 

“Listen, I messed up and I’m not going to push my luck or anything. I’m going to go. I hope I didn’t ruin your entire night. I know you’re mad at me right now, but…” Little Red brought Derek’s hand up to his lips, “maybe a simple kiss might change your mind? Make you feel better?”

Derek could do nothing but stare as Little Red’s rosy lips kissed his knuckles, the same knuckles that his thumb had been caressing just a minute ago. The warmth of his touch only now burned a thousand times more as it was replaced by his lips. 

One, two quick kisses before Little Red closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath. 

When he opened his eyes again to meet Derek’s, Little Red looked more at peace. 

“I’ll go,” he said with a tight smile, finally letting go of his hold on Derek’s hand.

No. Derek didn’t usually get flustered like this when someone tried to flirt and ultimately left in bitter disappointment. Not usually, yet he was pretty sure he was blushing and that even the tips of his ears were flaming red. His saving grace was that the mask on his face and the mix of obscurity and red lights which might keep it all hidden. 

But all Derek could think was ‘no’. Little Red was going to leave, for real. Leave Derek be, because that was what he thought Derek actually wanted.

Was that really what Derek wanted?

Instinct told him no, told him to stop Little Red. This wasn’t over. Derek had to know who this was and what this meant.

Logic told him to just let him go. 

Instinct won. Instincts were strong in werewolves and Derek had fought his too many times in the past to not have learned from his mistakes.

Derek didn’t even give Little Red the chance to take a step back or turn to leave. 

His now free hand reached up to wrap around the back of Little Red’s hood as he cut the distance between and kissed him. No real idea what he was actually doing but letting himself do it anyway. Why not? It was Valentine’s Day after all.

Little Red clutched at Derek’s shoulders and pulled him closer. The red and white spotlights still moving round and round made Derek dizzy, unless that feeling was solely coming from this kiss. It had been a long time since he had felt someone against him that way.

The kiss was frantic and desperate, lips meeting and meeting again, no real finesse to it. Their masks bumped into each other. It should have been awkward but Derek couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Little Red brought his hands up to mess up his hair, pulling at it like he had to hang on for his life.

Derek cupped his jaw, the only part of Little Red that he could actually touch, ran his tongue along his bottom lip, biting down, teasing with his teeth and making Little Red groan with it.

“I’m noticing you now.” Derek confessed when he pulled away. 

“Indeed.” Little Red nodded, and sent him an encouraging, albeit surprised, smile.

Derek leaned in closer, “Consider yourself noticed, Little Red,” he murmured in his ear.

Little Red shuddered and heaved such a deep sigh of relief, and maybe also contentment, that Derek physically felt it travel through the palms of his hands still touching him.

And soon Little Red’s hands were pulling him back into a kiss. Derek found himself going willingly.

He completely lost track of time or how many songs had passed or how long he had been standing there clinging to Little Red, letting one kiss lead to another and then more and more.

He finally brought himself to step away, slowly, carefully. Little Red quickly leaned back in, leaving one last small kiss just before letting him go, like maybe he wasn’t sure there would be more after this one that he had to make sure they got all he could out of it.

Little Red rubbed a hand over his mask and the uncovered part of his face, purposefully slowing over his slightly opened mouth, touching his lips with his thumb. “Holy shit.” 

He sounded absolutely disbelieving. Just as disbelieving as Derek felt. 

Derek, awkwardly carding a hand through his hair, tried to stay composed and not let that strange twisty feeling inside of him already miss Little Red’s touch and taste.

There was a snort nearby, Derek heard it clear as day. He knew exactly who that was coming from, clearly there was no need to bother turning around to see the source of it. The rumor would spread like wildfire.

“Would it be awful of me, I mean, would you, would it still be no if I asked you if you want to get out of here? Now, maybe?” Little Red smiled sweetly, Derek could guess there was more than a faint blush behind that red mask.

Derek forgot he was supposed to answer and confirm that yes, yes he would very much like to get out of here now, until Little Red grabbed his hand again and this time pulling him along with him through the room and the crowd and the bright Valentine’s confetti. 

The definite scent of arousal was still very much present in the room, everywhere and Derek had to admit it, coming from himself too now.

His heartbeat was deafening in his ears, pounding at the same time as the electricity running through his veins. The excitement of being with Little Red and letting himself have that.

Cupid might be on his side too tonight. 

*-*-*

Little Red stopped when they were mostly out of the parking lot.

They stopped in the dark corner of the alley, because the dorms just felt like too far away. 

He smashed the full length of his body into Derek’s, catching him by surprise and making him stumble a step back. He went willingly. Derek was already there with this guy, there at the point where his senses were failing him. Gone was his high strung feeling of high alert.

There was something so intoxicating about this guy’s scent, he needed more of it.

Maybe now that they weren’t into the overly sweaty parking lot with all these overly perfumed and body sprayed people in there, maybe he would finally be able to smell the one and only person he had been dying to smell and recognize all night.

Derek’s back was against a wall, Little Red’s body wedged into him. Derek would like to say that his body melted into him, it was the sentiment behind it but Little Red was lean and muscular under his layers of clothing. And the hardness in his pants was unmistakably pressing against Derek’s thigh. It didn’t feel like melting at all.

He inhaled deeply. He bit back a smile because the scent was more than just okay. Little Red might be the only human tonight who hadn’t drenched his body in unholy commercial fragrances, but mostly he smelled… like himself. Like grass from the campus lawn where he might have sat earlier today, like the stand at the dining hall where they do custom omelettes for brunch on the weekends, like a little of sunlight and sky and a whole lot of desire. 

They were even more in the darkness than before but Derek’s mind saw pale skin dotted with moles when he closed his eyes.

He couldn't make sense of any of it, but all the while Derek had been pretending to not to pay any attention, he actually had seen quite a lot and desired quite a lot too.

“You smell good,” Derek blurted out. 

Little Red laughed, “That’s good to know. You smell good too. I mean obviously it’s not exactly the same for me but I do appreciate a good smelling man. Who would want a bad smelling-”

Derek stopped him with a kiss, forced his lips shut to hopefully stop the babbling stream of words long enough for Little Red to focus back on what was happening between them. 

It took a minute but then he was there, barely keeping himself upright and letting Derek hold his weight.

He let his thoughts escape into his body, let everything he was thinking and feeling take control of what he was actually doing. And that was kissing. So much kissing. 

Little Red might not be ready for all of this. It felt like a lot. He was giving as much as he got, kept up with the intensity, kissing back and meeting Derek half way. 

Derek closed his eyes, angled his head just right so Little Red could take dominance for a minute. He wanted to take and take and take. But also be given if that made any sense. 

Oh Little Red was giving alright. Kissing with his whole body, with torturous little rolls of his hips.

He was a really good kisser, not too aggressive, not too wet, sucking on Derek’s lower lip softly before grazing his teeth. He kept making these tiny noises in his throat which might very well kill Derek with how much he liked them. Derek might be making little desperate noises of his own. A low moan echoed through the night, enough to wash any doubt Derek might have had.

Little Red stopped, not exactly moving away, just threading his fingers through Derek's hair.

“Tell me I’m reading this right.” He whispered in his ear.

Derek’s cheeks burned, blood seeping in. He didn’t need Little Red to have another proof of his effect on him. 

Derek didn’t answer, not certain his words would actually come out of his mouth if he tried. Instead he showed exactly how right Little Red was reading this by capturing his mouth in an open kiss. Letting himself get overwhelmed by it. Dizzy with the deluge of sensations.

Derek found himself holding on to the hood, pulling it back without really meaning to. He just needed to hold on to something.

Little Red fell forward, more into Derek’s if that was even possible and put a hand on the wall by the side of Derek’s head to steady himself. His soft hair brushing against Derek’s skin for the first time.

He tasted sweet and sharp, fruity like the punch but with an aftertaste of beer. Derek was getting drunk on it.

Derek’s hand grabbed at his back, held him tighter, as he opened his mouth to Little Red’s eager kisses. It felt as if he had been craving this for a long time, Derek realized he had too.

A fucking long time. 

Derek had always been walled in, or at least had been for a long time. He had locked himself up behind walls that couldn’t be taken down. He couldn’t be bothered to open up to anyone, too scared of what could become of it maybe, maybe a little too scarred of what it had been before. He was a good brother, that much he knew. It was easy, natural. But Cora always had tons of friends, always brought them along. And what was Derek to do then? What was he supposed to do when Cora’s friends were there and suddenly the world turned slightly faster and it all became loud and clumsy and a little too chaotic. 

He couldn’t just stay. He didn’t know how to let himself be vulnerable. Always had to be measured and not want or expect too much. And sometimes a brush of someone’s fingers was enough to make him run from all the things he wasn’t ready to allow himself to want.

He swallowed Little Red’s moans. His mind hearing these noises and supplying others to take their place. Incessant ramblings and a loud laugh ringing in Derek’s ears as if he was standing anywhere but here but the person with him was the exact same. 

“Derek…” Little Red forced his lips away. “I take it back.” Derek chased after him, capturing his mouth again making him moan into his mouth. “The stranger thing, I take it back.”

Derek pulled away, breathless, vaguely dazed. 

“I take it back,” Little Red shook his head, fast. “God, I love kissing you,” he leaned in, clearly failing to stop said kissing. Derek wasn’t mad about it. “No, no…” he pulled back again. “I can’t. I want you to know, I can’t do anything tonight and then go on with my life pretending like nothing happened because you wouldn’t know it was me. I can’t. I hate that I can’t because maybe you don’t want anything more than a stranger. And I thought I could but I can’t.”

He closed his eyes, like he couldn’t even bear to look at Derek for a moment.

Derek wanted to find words to make him understand. Only void was in his mind, no words, no explanation, just sensations and him. He was filled to the brim with _him._ Want and need and all the things in between that Derek had never allowed himself to feel and want and need. All of it was crashing down on him right now and all of it was because of this young man right here.

He had to kiss him again. Little Red let him, welcomed his mouth on him.

“Oh my god,” Little Red mumbled against his lips. “This is terrible.”

“I know.” Derek mumbled back. It was hard to stop.

“I have no will power.” They were still kissing and Little Red was still talking, this was a gift of his, or a curse maybe. “I’m a weak _weak_ little human.”

“I know.” Derek said, gathering all his own will power to pull back and look Little Red straight in the eyes. _“I know.”_

“Huh?” Little Red just didn’t get it. Clearly.

“Stiles, I know.” Derek said with a sigh, because he had to spell it out. 

And, yeah, he felt like he was riding some cheesy romance movie plot line right now. Derek wasn't exactly sure what was happening to him except for the realization that yes, he was done feeling like being alone was the only option.

Stiles’ eyes turned comically wide. “Shit.” He whispered, or more like whimpered. 

Derek kissed him softly. He caught his mouth wanting to taste that small whimper of realization as it was coming out. 

Derek leaned his forehead against Stiles' and murmured, “It’s not that I hadn’t noticed you.”

Stiles pulled back an inch, going a little cross-eyed just enough to look Derek in the eyes. “Don’t say that just to say that.” His tone turned gentle. “It’s okay.”

“No, I’m not just saying that.” Derek tried again.

He had noticed, noticed in the smallest ways, noticed the things he shouldn’t have noticed, like the way Stiles’ heartbeat would tick when someone mentioned Star Wars or some other inside joke that Derek couldn’t grasp, because a simple reference would make Stiles happier than anything else. The thing was that Derek couldn't let himself look too closely or even try to focus on Stiles, he just couldn't, because he was certain he’d never have a chance, that it would never happen.

They were Cora’s pack of friends, Derek was only the brother passing by and then leaving. He had never thought he was getting noticed himself. 

Stiles swayed closer until they were standing flush with each other again. He leaned in and wrapped his arms around Derek to hug him hard and tight, and just a little desperate still. Derek felt lost, felt like he was the one suddenly desperate to be held. 

Derek dragged his mouth over Stiles’ cheek, his jaw, the moles he knew were there. He left sloppy kisses in a path all the way down his neck to his shoulder. He found himself pressing his face deep into Stiles' neck and nuzzling, burying his nose in the collar of that damned hoodie, letting the familiar smell of him erase the stench of all the others. He inhaled. And that alone was able to settle the world around him.

“That good, huh?” Stiles chuckled, but still didn’t pull away, only tightened the arm around Derek’s neck, holding him. 

Derek tried to say something, but all that came out was an unintelligible noise, yes he could admit this one was a whimper. Derek was now whimpering, he could laugh at himself if he wasn’t already too far gone.

Stiles' fingers were reassuringly warm, slowly carding through Derek’s hair, caring and comforting. Suddenly there wasn’t any urgency at all. All Derek could do was nuzzle at Stiles’ skin, kiss him softly and mostly let himself drown in the scent of something he hadn’t felt in a very long time, maybe not ever. Arousal but not only that, that was just the surface of it, underneath it was something close to loyalty and joy and maybe Derek couldn’t bring himself to even think about it but something like… love maybe. He felt it vibrating, sending a bone-deep feeling of comfort through his body. 

Derek finally brought himself to meet Stiles’ eyes again. He seemed quiet for once, like the one time Derek would very much like some endless babble to fill the silence and save him the trouble to explain what he felt, Stiles was standing very still and very silent. 

Derek touched Stiles’ chin with two fingers, tilting his head up as he reached his other hand to Stiles’ mask. 

“Wait,” Stiles said. “It’s not midnight yet.”

“We're not at the party anymore, no reason to follow anyone's rules but ours.” Derek pulled Stiles’ mask forward, the elastic stretching and catching on a strand of brown hair as Derek gently lifted the mask up and off. 

“Better?” Stiles tilted his head.

His cheeks showed the marks of where the mask had pressed into his skin, it was a little ridiculous.

“Much better.” Derek confirmed.

Derek touched his cheek, barely, a soft caress with the pad of his thumb, and watched Stiles' eyelashes flutter shut under the touch. He couldn’t believe it had taken him so long to realize who had been standing in front of him. Who other than Stiles would have worn an old hoodie as formal dress code?

The thing was that it was new for Derek, to look at Stiles, to allow himself to just look. He had never allowed himself to do just that, stand there and stare his fill. It was stupid really, how afraid of getting caught he had been all this time. Like maybe he wouldn’t have been allowed.

Stiles hummed as he picked up his mask from Derek's hand, turning it around a few times. “Guess that's now my lucky charm or something. Better not lose it.”

Derek pulled at the silk tie behind his head, it was already getting loose after the attack of Stiles’ fervent fingers.

“Hi,” Stiles smiled when Derek was finally uncovered. 

He looked almost surprised that the face he was finally seeing for the first time all night was actually Derek’s.

“Are you ready to get out of here?” It was Derek who asked the question this time.

“I think you stole my line.”

*-*-*

The lights were far too bright as they stumbled into the hallway of Derek's dorm. Derek was so blinded that he actually had to squint if he wanted to see something. Stiles was, for lack of a better word, giggling. Giggling the whole way, tripping himself on the carpeted floor, also pulling Derek along as if he knew where he was going even though he didn't.

“It’s the other way,” Derek grumbled, “Come on.”

He took Stiles’ hand, their fingers intertwined, and pulled him across doors and hallways. 

Stiles stopped suddenly, bringing Derek to a halt. “Wait.”

The sense of urgency was back, but not all the way. It was a nervous kind of energy now. They wouldn’t make it to the room before midnight, maybe the charm would break. Maybe from under the brightest of lights, Stiles would change his mind.

Before Derek had the chance to say any word, Stiles sealed both of their mouths with another kiss. 

“Yeah, just had to.” Stiles breathed out. “You’re a little addictive, dude, you should come with a warning label.”

Derek snorted. “Right. I’ll tell the factory to change the packaging.”

Stiles pressed his index finger to Derek’s chest. “Don’t you dare change the packaging. Have you seen what happened to Mr Pringles? No way I’m letting that happen to you, Mister Wolf. Not under my watch. You better be careful.”

He leaned in again, ready to punctuate his threat with a kiss.

Derek dodged it. “We’re here,” he said in a whisper, like this was his biggest secret yet.

Stiles glanced at the door to the side. “The holy single dorm room.” He smirked. “You can’t imagine how much I heard Scott bitch about us not being allowed to room together because of this stupid werewolf policy. Man, you guys are really missing out on what it feels like to be a lowly human and being assigned a random roommate who seems to get a kick out of sexiling you on a daily basis. That’s the true college life. The one from the movies! And, what, the one time it’d be my turn to sexile someone, I guess I don’t even have to… yeah, being a werewolf is good for one thing.”

“It’s good for a lot of things.” Derek had to counter. “And Little Red would be the first to know.”

Stiles wasn’t fooling anyone here. The one human running in a pack of wolves. Derek had seen it, how all of them were around him. How even though Scott was Isaac’s alpha, Stiles was the one in charge. Even Cora looked at him that way. 

That was one other thing that had made Stiles so intimidating and… secretly thrilling.

“Uh-uh.” Stiles was still smiling. He knew.

Derek fumbled as he unlocked his door. Stiles’ hands seemingly everywhere, distracting. 

“And we’re here.” Stiles echoed when they were finally inside. 

Derek switched the lights on. He had to see. And without fail, Stiles’ bright hazel eyes were staring right back at him.

“I think I owe you a dance,” Derek said, surprising even himself with the words.

He wanted to make this last, make this whole night, this whole fairy tale-like night into more than just a figment of time passed and gone. Stiles had said his one goal of the night was to get one dance with that one special guy. Derek was going to give him that.

“A dance?” Stiles’ eyebrows shot up.

Derek offered his hand. 

“But there’s no music.” Stiles had to be contradictory. “Are you offering to serenade me to a slow dance?”

“No…”

Stiles snorted, “Totally saw that one coming.”

Derek pursed his lips, still taking a step closer, “Do you have everything figured out then?”

Stiles closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. “Nah, tonight is all a surprise, don’t worry. I had the distant thought that I might get punched in the nose or at best would be rejected and humiliated in front of the whole campus. So, to be standing here with you… I’m just lucky.”

Derek felt an overwhelming wave of affection toward this young man.

“I wouldn’t have punched you.” Derek said. “Because werewolves are not allowed to punch anyone, unless legitimate self-defense can be proven.”

Stiles smirked. “Oh, it’s good to know that you care about your academic career that way.” 

Now Derek absolutely recognized the flirtatious tone and the twinkle in Stiles’ bright eyes.

“It’d be such a shame to jeopardize my career.” Derek nodded. “For what? A punch.”

“So, if I can read between the lines, I’m guessing you’re a ‘make love not war’ kind of guy?” Stiles’ soft fingertips ghosted down Derek’s sides, only stopping over his hip bones, sneaking under the hem of his shirt finding skin. “That’s good to know.”

“Indeed.”

Derek found himself breathing easily now. He didn’t feel weighed down and choking on all the expectations he could see in everyone’s eyes when they looked at him. He could just _be_ here with Stiles, swaying to some unheard music. He let his hands travel over the hoodie, down the expanse of Stiles’ back, his body warm against him. Stiles’ fingers sent tingles through Derek’s body every time they brushed skin.

The flush slowly moving to Stiles’ cheeks was so radiant, so gorgeous, Derek couldn’t take his eyes away. He finally understood what people meant when they spoke about the butterflies. He felt the urge to hide himself again, and what better and safer spot than there in the crook of Stiles’ neck.

Stiles chuckled. “Yeah, big guy, should we take that little dance to bed or are you trying to kill me softly?” 

Derek grunted, face still fiercely buried against Stiles' throat. The idea alone of Stiles naked and in bed with him made heat rise in his belly. Something other than heat resonated too, light and happy in the small spot under his ribs, that small place there where his heart had a home. 

Stiles made a low desperate sound as his hands twisted in Derek's hair. His warm breath ghosted over Derek’s ear. “Come on, you’re killing me, man.”

Derek’s mind was already far too gone to let him find words to answer, so he just kissed Stiles instead. Kiss came surprisingly easily and was far more intoxicating than it had any right to be.

Stiles was playing along to their pretend dance, making a show of swaying his hips a little faster as if their silent music was picking up the pace, all the while he was still kissing Derek and certainly trying not to laugh again.

Eventually Derek pulled away, his lip getting gently tugged in the process.

“You sure this is what you want?” Derek had to ask. “We barely know each other.”

Stiles looked up at him, eyes completely glazed over. “Do I look like I have any doubt? Der’, I know you.”

“Do you?” Derek’s voice cracked, his nerves betraying any pretense of nonchalance.

Stiles leaned closer again. “Sure, we haven’t talked a lot, so much so that you couldn’t recognize me for how many minutes?” 

Stiles grinned like this was the best joke. Derek wondered how many times he would have to hear that in his future. He would like to argue that this Valentine’s ball had been the worst place for his werewolf senses, that it was way too bright and loud with so many people moving everywhere, but he quickly realized he wouldn’t mind if it stayed a running joke if that meant that Stiles was with him. 

“I know enough.” Stiles continued. “You have your past and I have mine and… yeah, it’s not exactly sex with a stranger anymore.” he smiled sheepishly as he scratched his head. “I don’t think it’s necessary to know every minute detail about each other at the beginning. I think we should just enjoy what we have.”

Derek stared at him, his eyes unblinking, glancing down only to see Stiles slowly biting his lip, and glanced back up to meet his eyes, still open and vulnerable and _waiting_. They stayed that way, simply staring at each other in silence for a minute as Stiles was giving time, all the time needed for Derek to decide.

They didn’t know all that much about each other, mostly because Derek hadn’t let himself dive into this strange pull he felt. Only now they were here, Stiles in front of him and no real wall left standing. Derek had to admit that he had had fun tonight after all, he had found not a Cinderella but someone who was real enough to make him feel comfortable, more comfortable that he had in the last how many years.

Something must have shifted in Derek’s expression because suddenly Stiles was giving him another one of his breathtaking smiles.

He buried his fingers in Derek's hair again, mumbled urgent little noises against Derek's lips. 

Stiles wasn't helping get any of their clothes off, like his brain could only allow him to do one thing and that was kissing or looking, nothing more coordinated than that. He looked at Derek, really looked at him, like he was studying every shape and angle and every inch of newly uncovered skin got to be seen and touched by welcoming fingers. It was flattering, but it was just not helping and right now Derek needed a little help getting them both naked and in bed. If they were going to get anywhere tonight, they had to at least get somewhat naked.

“Are you going to let me do everything ?” Derek joked as he pushed Stiles down onto the thin mattress of his single bed. They would make do of the small space, Derek wasn't worried. 

In a quick violent motion, Stiles yanked his pants off, pulling his underwear as well and pushing his shoes off at the end. Derek couldn't tell if that was supposed to be sexy or disturbing but at least it was effective.

“Satisfied?” Stiles asked when he sat up, now entirely naked. Derek was still a little stunned. “Come on and kiss me.” Stiles reached up for him, pulling Derek down on top of him and kissing him again.

It quickly felt like Stiles was everywhere all at once, kissing Derek, his hot skin rubbing against him. He went from kissing Derek’s mouth to letting his mouth move on to Derek's shoulder and neck, pulling at his hair, running his blunt nails down Derek's back. Everywhere. And Derek’s whole body was just begging to get more, begging to be touched and continue to be touched.

They worked against each other, moving in a rhythm. Derek couldn’t say they started slowly, once they got to it, there was no stopping. They started fast, their bodies fitting perfectly right, Stiles was warm and hard, lean muscle and smooth skin, almost the same height but he was a little narrower, fitting into Derek’s body. Two grown men on a tiny bed but it worked. They only got faster, Derek groaned when Stiles’ wrapped his thighs around his hips. Stiles was kissing him, getting sloppy with everything going on at once.

The bed started to creak under their combined weight, creaking every time they moved. Stiles laughed, losing focus of what they were doing and just laughing at the ridiculous noises the crappy dorm room bed was now doing. They stopped, only panting for a couple of seconds. Derek looked at Stiles who was staring right back at him. He could help but smile too. They were really doing that right now.

“We’re gonna wake up the neighbors.” Stiles grinned, absolutely unapologetic.

“It's a good thing they’re all at the party.” 

Derek punctuated that thought with one hand sneaking down and wrapping around both of them. He was more than a little proud of the surprised moan escaping Stiles’ mouth.

It didn’t last long after that. Stiles was noisy, very noisy, definitely enough to wake up the neighbors if neighbors there were. The room filled with the rhythmic creaking of the old bed and the high pitched noises and mumbled words and half-sentences that Stiles couldn’t help but try to say. And maybe Derek was doing just the same and letting all the thoughts in his head finally out of there and into the world, like maybe there was finally someone to hear them. The sounds of them both echoing in the room until they both came, Stiles moaning Derek’s name and Derek choking all together on whatever that strange feeling in his chest could possibly mean.

*-*-*

Derek had felt the early morning sunlight, had felt Stiles kiss his cheek before getting out of bed, he had listened to him getting dressed, listened to him talk about whatever there was to talk about on a Sunday morning. Something about the dining hall being raided of the Sunday French toasts if he wasn’t there bright and early. 

Derek couldn’t be bothered to move, his mind left hovering in that softness between sleep and wakefulness. His bed had never been so comfortable and warm.

He hadn’t been wrong thinking they would make do of the single bed and they had, multiple times. Until some point during the night, in the early hours, when Stiles had proudly announced that he was a little spoon and grabbed Derek’s arms to settle himself against his bare chest.

This had been… a new revelation of some kind. Derek had never thought of himself as a spoon but spending hours cuddled against Stiles, syncing his breathing to the warm body in his arms. Derek had slept. Profoundly. 

No amount of Sunday French toasts would pull him out of this bed right now. He was going to bask in this feeling of overwhelming warmth until he had no choice but to get up.

It wasn’t long after Stiles had left, stomach grumbling and French toasts the only thing on his mind, that Cora walked in like she owned the place.

“I can’t believe you ditched before midnight. You missed the best part of the party. You missed out on Greenberg being kissed by mistake just because he had the same mask as some random girl’s boyfriend. Then obviously he got chased out of the party, the guy was too drunk to follow but I’m pretty sure Greenberg is still hiding scared shitless right now. That really was really a wild night!” 

Derek heard her walk to his desk to sneak her nose in stuff, his homework or anything left there just because she could. 

“Oh and you're not gonna believe what Lydia told me.” She said, her tone a little too nonchalant to be genuine. “I told her, _no way._ Not my big brother. She said she saw you leave with someone but wouldn't tell me who.” 

Derek needed her to not say it. He could have told her to shut up but only threw her a glare from where he was still buried under his covers. A glare seemed to work just fine. 

“I mean, I call bullshit. I -” She stopped, frowning.

Derek grumbled something, and turned to bury his face deeper under his pillow, deep in what still smelled like Stiles.

“What happened here?!” Cora squawked. “Did you…” she gasped. “Did you have _sex?”_ She gasped again, this one was definitely over the top and fake. “Derek!”

Someone cleared their throat from the doorway. They both turned and saw that they were indeed being watched. Stiles was standing there with a French toast stick in his mouth, his lips covered with sugar. The scent of cinnamon and butter flowed like a wave into the room. That and the distinct smell of Stiles. 

Derek felt his heartbeat ratchet up. 

“Heyyy…” Stiles waved awkwardly. He was wearing one of Derek's shirts. He dashed in the room without another word.

“Stiles, what --” Cora shook her head. It was too early for her. That will teach her to come unannounced at… Derek glanced at the clock on his nightstand, nine am on a Sunday.

“Sorry, just forgot my secret lover’s mask!” Stiles showed his red mask with two fingers as a coroner would show some piece of evidence before bagging it to be filed. 

“Your... no. No. _Derek!!!_ ” Cora groaned, outraged. “I’m never dragging you to a party ever again!”

“Uhh, I don’t think you’ll ever have to,” Stiles chipped in. “I mean… I don’t want to assume but if I have any say in the matter, he’s going to be busy doing.... something else for the foreseeable future.”

“Something? You mean you. He’s going to be busy doing _you_ , Stiles?” Cora’s fury was building up. 

“You have something against it?” Derek forced himself to sit up on the bed.

That couldn’t be right. Cora was a love is love advocate. And surely, there was nothing Stiles could have ever done to deserve his sister’s fury. Cora’s fury was something to be feared.

“Yes!” Cora cried out. “I just lost 100 bucks to Lydia because I didn’t think you two could ever get your shit together!!”

Stiles burst out laughing. “Oh my God, you knew?”

“Of course I knew!” Cora crossed her arms over her chest. “Little sisters know everything.”

Oh no... Derek would never hear the end of it. He couldn't bring himself to care all that much though. Especially when his eyes caught Stiles' from across the room, and his very own Little Red winked at him.

Yeah, Derek didn't regret anything either.


End file.
